Portugal has always been the trendy hipster friend of Europe. With its consistently excellent taste in food, art, fashion and music, this neighbour to the Atlantic Ocean knows how to make you question your own taste in travel. After all — if you were cool like Portugal, wouldn’t you have already been there by now?
But a lot like your real-life hipster friend, people ignored Portugal, called it funny names, and left it off their bucket lists in favour of where the popular kids were going. Our 2021 resolution is to change all that.
Here’s why you should visit the coolest little country in Europe before it goes mainstream.
The Streets are Paved with Art
You can admit it.
Seeing great art is like ticking off a checklist. Michelangelo: done. Monet: done. Picasso: done.
But here’s our advice: forget the big names and head to Portugal to discover the upcoming artists before anyone else.
Because in Portugal there’s an incredible array of art that’s meaningful, current, and intelligent. You can visit the Centro de Arte Moderna in Lisbon. Or walk amongst modern creatives at Porto’s Galeria Presença.
The street art scene is another impressive sight to behold and it’s especially great because you can appreciate it while getting a tan at the same time.
And if you really want to tick off some of the great artists, you can go and see works by Warhol, Picasso, Dali, Duchamp, Magritte, Miró, Bacon and Jackson Pollock at the Museu Coleção Berardo in Lisbon.
You’ll Be Inspired by Portuguese Talent
The Portuguese are as warm as their lovely weather. They’ll help you with directions, share food with you, and party with you until dawn.
They’re an exceptionally talented people and because they’re so willing to share, it’s very likely that all this skill may rub off on you. Their traditional music, Fado, is so incredible that UNESCO has put it on their fancy Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. While at the same time their footballer (or soccer player for you American mates), Cristiano Ronaldo, won the Ballon d’Orr four times.
But it’s not only music, art and sport they’re good at, they also produce over 50% of the world’s bottle corks! Cheers to keeping our wine fresh!
And their culture is also fantastically forward-thinking. They decriminalized all drugs and focus on treating addiction as a health problem as opposed to a crime. And as a result, they only have three overdose deaths per million in a year. This is nothing compared to Europe’s average of 17.3 overdose deaths per million.
It’s enough to make you want to pack your bags and move right in.
You’ll Be Left Permanently Salivating
The Atlantic ocean is basically Portugal’s head chef. You’ll find every delectable fish you’ve ever wanted to eat, done in every way you’ve ever wanted to eat it.
There’s bacalhau a bras, which is delicious shredded cod mixed with parsley, olives and potatoes. Also a must try for any seafood lover is ameijoas a bulhao pato, clams prepared with coriander, garlic and olive oil. Finally you must try bolinhos de bacalhau, which are tasty deep fried cod fritters.
And they don’t just love to eat fish; they also respect them. Portugal built the world’s largest indoor aquarium in Lisbon which is a great way to stretch your legs between meals.
Don’t fret if you’re a vegan, because in Lisbon you can find our favourite vegan restaurant in the world, ‘Jardim dos Sentidos.’
You Can Experience the Age of Empire
Why have people always wanted to conquer the world? Have they not seen James Bond? Don’t they realise they’ll be stopped by some handsome guy in a tuxedo?
Well, like almost every country in Europe, Portugal ignored the fables of James Bond and tried to conquer the world. Their empire was the first colonial empire in the entire world and it spread so far that Portuguese is now the sixth most spoken language in the world.
And for you, this means Portugal has some of the most incredible buildings and museums you’ll ever see. There’s the most expensive chapel ever, São Roque Church, in Lisbon, and the beautiful Palácio da Bolsa, in Porto. There are limitless expanses of gorgeous baroque architecture waiting to be discovered when you visit this beautiful and culturally rich country.
It’s all so beautiful and interesting, you’ll end up wishing Portugal had conquered the whole world.
